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A hoppy good time: Telluride Blues and Brews

The 2010 Telluride Blues and Brews Festival will feature a long list of performers and a Grand Tasting with 150 craft beers from 53 microbreweries. Tickets are still available for the Sept. 17-19 festival.

QUICKREAD

WHAT TO BRING
• Photo ID.
• Sunscreen and hat.
• Lawn chairs. No high-back lawn chairs are permitted between the sound booth and the stage.
• Tarps and blankets. They may be no bigger than 5 feet by 8 feet. Please share your Tarp when you’re not using it.
• Sunshade tents. These are permitted only on the back perimeter of festival grounds.
• Coolers and UNOPENED plastic water/soda bottles and cans and UNOPENED food items. Coolers will be searched.
• Camera. However, no professional photo equipment allowed.
• Strollers for the kids.
• Warm clothes. September can be chilly in Telluride.
• Rain gear. The festival goes on rain or shine.

WHAT NOT TO BRING
• Glass. Water/soda should be in an unopened container.
• Pets. This is strictly enforced on festival grounds and in the campground.
• Alcohol. Beer and wine will be available for purchase at the festival.
• Illegal drugs.
• Professional photo equipment, video cameras or video recording equipment.
• Frisbees.
• Shelled nuts (seriously).
• Unlicensed vending will not be permitted.

TELLURIDE — For music lovers and beer enthusiasts, there’s one festival in September that combines an all-star Blues lineup with the flavors of more than 50 breweries spanning the American west: The Telluride Blues and Brews, and tickets are half full.

As of Monday, Aug. 16, 60 percent of tickets had been sold for the three-day festival set for Sept. 17–19 in Telluride.

The lineup for this year’s festival reads like a history lesson from the pages of the Blues bible. Legendary guitarists B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughn, George Thorogood and the husband and wife combo of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi solidify the top performances over the three days.

Other performers, such as Mississippi’s T-Model Ford, Little Al Thomas of Chicago, Galactic, JJ Gray & Mofro, Black Joe Lewis and the Otis Taylor Band, fill only a small area of an expansive bill.

The Grand Tasting on Saturday, Sept. 18, features 150 craft beers from 53 microbreweries available to sample from noon to 3 p.m. Entry to the Grand Tasting is included with all three-day and Saturday festival passes.

Upon entering the festival Saturday, each person will receive a free souvenir tasting glass and will get to vote for the festival’s top brewery.

ON THE BLUES

This year, the blues side of the festival is all about the guitar:

• B.B. King and his lovely Lucille.

• Derek Trucks, the southern kid born of the blues tradition that is the Allman Brothers.

• Susan Tedeschi with her one-of-a-kind delivery.

• The cool Jimmie Vaughn and his Tilt-A-Whirl Band.

• And the road-warrior, always bad to the bone, George Thorogood.

In a music world transformed by digital mixing and strange new acts — think Lady Gaga — selling out world tours, Thorogood has kept a dedicated fan base for 30 years.

“What matters is the people, I just can’t thank them enough,” Thorogood said in a recent phone interview.

Thorogood has built a career mastering huge hits such as “Bad to the Bone,” “Move It On Over,” “Get a Haircut,” “House Rent Boogie” and “Who Do You Love,” all the while touring with the same band, the Destroyers.

“They said if you had three hits, you had a job, if you have a dozen it’s a career,” he said.

His longevity Thorogood credits to his fans, among other things.

“I never eat fried food and I stay out of Italian cars,” Thorogood said jokingly quoting comedian Joan Rivers.

Thorogood and the Destroyers headline the festival’s first day with Jimmie Vaughn performing just before.

ON THE BREWS

Colorado has the most breweries per capita of any state in the U.S. and, according to Palisade Brewing Co. brewer Danny Wilson, the Telluride festival is a great place for Colorado breweries to showcase and promote their craft.

Wilson and his crew will pour Palisade’s finest at the Grand Tasting and Wilson is excited about the response from the crowd.

“We’re taking our Dark Wheat, Red Ale and Pale Ale,” he said.

“Our Red Ale is a little hoppier but is very well balanced ... the Dark (wheat) is very refreshing, so smooth and drinkable,” he said.

According to Courtney McCary, director of marketing for Telluride Blues and Brews, Saturday is the festival’s biggest day and usually sells out. Only 9,000 tickets are sold for that day.